The Purple Penny's Return!
by Time Travelling Echidna
Summary: The evil purple penny comes back, and now Sonic, Spyro, and Mario have to stop it from taking over the Word--Microsoft Word. (Sequel to "The Train and Mario") More voting for Chapter 2!
1. Sonic is Summoned

The Return of the Purple Penny!  
  
Ech: Now what? Jeez, can't you finish all of your previous engagements before starting a new fanfic?  
  
Aw, get over it, Ech. At least I let you be in Super Komario. And maybe you can be here too.  
  
Roo: What about me?  
  
You're the Roo; of course you'll be in it if he's here. Well, if you don't know already, this is the sequel to The Train and Mario. After figuring out how much chaos it caused to Mario, I started this for no real reason, other than my misspelling of world without the l, and, well, you'll see.  
  
Wex: Now, you don't own Mario, Sonic, or Spyro, or even the Purple Penny, because I own that, so let's go!

* * *

Sonic raced through the Mushroom Hill Zone on the Floating Island, training for the cross-country race. He was sure that he'd win, but he didn't want to be arrogant, and his main rival, Shadow, was also in this one. Shadow was busy training in Sandopolis, so Sonic knew that he was definitely planning on winning. He ran around yet another of the strange, orange mushrooms, bounced onto the next one, and flew past the marker on the course. "How's my time, Tails?"  
  
"You finished in just under 20 seconds, Sonic. That's the best time you've ever done here!"  
  
"Not good enough. I'll have to get through here in less than ten to beat Shadow."  
  
"Are you sure that you want to go again? You are looking pretty tired, and you know that the only time you ever got done with anything done that fast was back when you were Hyper Sonic."  
  
"And it's too bad that they don't allow the use of power enhancing materials," Knuckles interrupted, "or I'd let you turn the Chaos Emeralds into their super forms and then you could train."  
  
"Well, at least I know that Shadow won't be able to use Chaos Control. I'd hate to see–"  
  
"Sonic! Look out!"  
  
Dr. Robotnik flew out of the dense foliage of Mushroom Hill's canopy and crashed one of his ultra-badnik ships into the green fields around the wooded valley, knocking Knuckles and Tails back from the crater. "So, Eggman, you wanna train against me?"  
  
"Sonic! Give me the Chaos Emeralds immediately, and then we'll talk about training..."  
  
"I thought we had a truce back at ARK, Ro-butt-nik. You don't want to break your promise, do you, Doc?"  
  
"Oh, no, Sonic, I wouldn't think of breaking my promise without breaking you!" Robotnik put his machine into high gear and began to spin fire around the core. He laughed as Sonic backed away from the heat, when suddenly, behind him, a blend of seven different and meaningful colors came spiraling towards Sonic.  
  
"Sonic, use the Chaos Emeralds! Turn into Super Sonic!"  
  
"I've got a better idea. Chaos Control!" Sonic disappeared in a bright flash of light, and suddenly, Robotnik's machine was damaged beyond recognition. Sonic reappeared out of nowhere, glowing his usual golden color when he was Super. Sonic threw back the Chaos Emeralds to Knuckles for safekeeping on the Floating Island, while he ran over to Robotnik as his fur turned back to blue. "Don't you ever learn, Eggman?" he said, "Every time you come along with another one of your plans, I just foil it. Would ya just give up already?" Sonic walked closer to Robotnik's unmoving body. "Eggman?"  
  
"Pur–Pur–Purple..."  
  
"What was that, Eggman?"  
  
"Purple... Pen–Pen–Penny..."  
  
"Purple Penny?" Sonic gasped. There was a large welt on Robotnik's head, right on top. It was dark purple and swelling, and he knew that he certainly didn't do it. Right in the middle of the bruise, there was a mark. It was no ordinary mark either, it was circular, and looked like it was made by a coin that was thrown into his head. "Knuckles, Tails, come over here!"  
  
"What is it, Sonic?" Knuckles looked at Robotnik. "Sonic, this is what happens every time you beat him. His ship's ruined, and he's knocked out. That's all."  
  
"No, look on the back of his head!" Tails shouted, "There's a huge mark on it! Sonic, what did you do?"  
  
"Nothing! He was just laying here after I beat him, saying something about a purple penny.  
  
"Penny! Penny penny penny penny penny penny penny!"  
  
"Eggman, are you all right?" Tails asked. "You have a gigantic mark on your head."  
  
Robotnik looked around to see the three heroes standing around him. "Sonic...? Tails...? Knuckles...? What happened?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing, Eggman." Knuckles yelled. "Where do you get off attacking the Floating Island and demanding the Chaos Emeralds after what happened in ARK?"  
  
"Attack the Floating Island? I'd never try that again after what happened to the Death Egg way back when."  
  
"Well, you sure did it today." Tails said. "What's with this purple penny talk anyway?"  
  
"Purple Penny?!" Robotnik shouted as he jumped up. "Who told you about that evil coin?"  
  
"You just did, Eggman." Knuckles said sarcastically, "But why is it evil?"  
  
Robotnik started the story of the Purple Penny, stating that it brought bad luck to those who held it, and that it could never be destroyed, even by a train. It cursed one man in a kingdom far away from where they stood, and it wasn't even on Mobius. The Purple Penny entered Sonic's home world from a teleporter that Robotnik was developing, and it had already changed the destination to a computer system that was being used on a whole different planet than the one it came from. Sonic agreed to help Robotnik, just this once, and the three heroes got Shadow and brought them both back to Knothole.  
  
"Dr. Robotnik?!" Sally shouted as the five walked in the door, "Sonic, are you out of your mind?"  
  
"Don't worry about it, Sal, he's on our side now, and he needs our help."  
  
Robotnik walked over to Sally and held out his hand. "Princess Sally, it's a pleasure to meet you under ordinary circumstances."  
  
"The pleasure's all mine." She said as she shook her constant enemy's hand. "What happened to the back of your head?"  
  
"Purple penny, Aunt Sally. Don't ask."  
  
"Okay..." Sally took Sonic to the side and quietly yelled at him. "Sonic, what is wrong with you? How could you just bring Dr. Ivo Robotnik, our worst enemy, into Knothole without any authorization? I demand an answer immediately!"  
  
"Sal, he told us about a purple penny that causes the holder to have bad luck. Apparently, it's trying to take over the world, and he was just one of its pawns."  
  
"So, let me get this straight... You expect me to believe that a little coin knocked him out and made him try to get the Chaos Emeralds constantly?"  
  
"Yes." Sonic said. "Or at last that it was this last time. He quit going after them when we stopped ARK from falling."  
  
Robotnik cleared his throat, signaling that he'd now talk to all of the Freedom Fighters about the penny. "Okay, you all know me already, right?" The crowd around him responded with a sarcastic "yes." "All right, then. As Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles have helped me discover, there is a new threat to Mobius. This threat comes in the form of an evil, purple coin; The Purple Penny."  
  
The Knothole telephone began to ring, and Sonic ran to get it so everyone else could hear Robotnik's story. He quickly picked up the receiver, and was greeted by a quite unfamiliar voice.  
  
"Hello, this is Bill Gates speaking. Is Sonic the Hedgehog there, by any chance?"  
  
"I'm Sonic." Sonic answered, "Why?"  
  
"Here at Microsoft, we have been having quite a problem–"  
  
"I know, video game sales. Listen, Sega wouldn't sell their license to make video games of me for anything."  
  
"No, no, no. It's not video games. We've been having a few problems with our Microsoft Word programs, all the same complaint, that an evil, purple coin has been creating random files that can destroy an entire network with only one hour of being on the internet."  
  
"Sounds terrible. What can I do?"  
  
"I want you to come to our headquarters, along with three other heroes from different worlds, to defeat this menace." Gates said. "Our transport will arrive in approximately twenty-four hours. You have until then to prepare yourself. Goodbye."  
  
"Wait! Mr. Gates!"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Can I bring anyone else to help me?"  
  
"Only one other. Choose carefully. Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog."  
  
Sonic hung up the phone, and, clearly disturbed by the conversation with Bill Gates, as well as Robotnik's connection to the penny that he talked about, ran into the room where Robotnik was giving his speech.  
  
"And so, in conclusion, if this penny is not stopped, it could use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to destroy the entire world." Robotnik looked towards where Sonic came into the room. "Ah, Sonic, back so soon? I thought that you'd already taken off to defeat the penny."  
  
"Sorry, Doc, just off to answer the phone."  
  
"Who was it, Sonic?" Tails asked.  
  
"Bill Gates. He wanted me to come to help defeat the Purple Penny."  
  
"Well, Sonic, with Tails and me at your side, there'll be no problem."  
  
"That's just the problem, Knuckles. I can only bring one of you."

* * *

Roo: Oooh!  
  
Wex: Don't say it.  
  
Antiroo: Yregnahffilc!  
  
Antiech: Bless you.  
  
Ech: So, which one will Sonic take along, Shadow, Knuckles, or Tails? You vote, TTE can't decide. And then, tune in for the next chapter, which will be in the Spyro section, for Spyro's start of the story!  
  
Platypous: That's right, everyone, the future of this fanfic is in your hands. Hedgehog, Echidna, or Fox, pick the sidekick.  
  
Princess Aquaech: See you all next time!


	2. Spyro is Summoned

The Return of the Purple Penny!  
  
Ech: Well, I guess you could update this really quickly. After all, how else would people see it?  
  
Roo: They could look through the archives for it. But remember, Ech, TTE's going on vacation to Tennessee next week. He has to get this made fast.  
  
But not too fast. And I won't have all the Back to the Future jokes that you'd expect in a Spyro story. So sorry.  
  
Wex: And don't forget, you can still vote for who you want to go on Sonic's journey with him up until Chapter 4 is up. That's when the real journey starts. These first three are just a set-up for the characters.  
  
Platypous: Not owning anything but us isn't good. But for TTE it is. Where's my pudding?  
  
At the end of the chapter, Platypous. For now, let's see what Spyro does to invoke the wrath of the Purple Penny...

* * *

Spyro torched another group of sheep at the picnic he was having with Hunter, Elora, and Sparx in Summer Forest. "Ahhh, it feels so good to have my flame breath back!"  
  
"My ears are back to normal too." Elora said, "And next time we won't be in such a dangerous situation since Ratchet let you keep that Pyrocitor that he had customized."  
  
Spyro looked at the purple painted Pyrocitor that Hunter was using to burn all of the sheep that Spyro missed. It was a great thing that Ratchet did on their last adventure, customizing his own weapon and giving it to Spyro as a gift. Where the nozzle was before, a small steel head shaped like Spyro's sat, and the tank on the back where the fuel was allowed to expand had now appeared to have sprouted wings. Ratchet and Spyro had joked just before Spyro and company's return to Avalar that it could actually be called a Spyrocitor now.  
  
"You know, I'm really gonna miss Ratchet." Hunter told the group while he conked another sheep on the head with the Spyrocitor. "He's the kind of guy who only appears once in every galaxy, a hero who would stand up for his friends no matter what the cost was to himself." "Ahem." Spyro cleared his throat.  
  
"Oh, but of course I know you're the kind of guy who'd do that too, Spyro" Hunter finished embarrassedly.  
  
"Where's Zoë?"  
  
Elora answered Sparx. "She had a class to teach today in Bianca's magic school. You know how we have to keep Avalar as magical as possible, or none of us would be able to survive here."  
  
"And they said that they'd meet us here at six. It's already five thirty." Hunter added.  
  
"You know, I haven't seen or heard at all from Ripto since Ratchet and I beat him a year ago."  
  
"You don't think he's, you know... finally gone," Elora asked, "do you, Spyro?"  
  
"Jeez, I hope not." Spyro stated abruptly. "Uh, you know," he said quickly, "because then there'd be nobody to fight."  
  
Spyro was now satisfied with his clearing-out job on the sheep, so he took his seat next to Elora. Hunter followed, and seeing the big picnic basket that she had brought with her, his mouth watered. "You know what, we really don't have to wait for Bianca. I'm sure she'd understand."  
  
"Whoa, whoa, Hunter, calm down." Spyro stopped his good friend with his clawed hand. "You know what she did last time when you didn't save her anything."  
  
"Huh?" Hunter thought hard about it. "Oh yeah!"  
  
"What? What did she do to him?"  
  
"Well, Elora, it was back when you visited your parents, remember, just a couple of years ago?"  
  
"Yeah." Hunter continued. "Since you were gone, Spyro, Bianca, and me decided to have a movie night."  
  
"What did you watch?"  
  
"Oh, it was nothing. Just some movie you wouldn't–" "Back to the Future."  
  
"Hunter!" Spyro hissed. "I told you not to tell her, under any circumstances!"  
  
"But Spyro, you know it's my favorite movie." Elora said, not very happy with her friends' secret.  
  
"We watched it to remind ourselves of you." Spyro saved the conversation, but not for long. "We watched the whole trilogy!" Hunter interrupted.  
  
"But you guys, I have the shirt! I joined a club! How could you?"  
  
"But–but–" was all that came out of Spyro's mouth. He saw Elora, his long time friend, and girlfriend ever since they first sent Ratchet home, on the verge of tears. Something wasn't right here. Spyro looked into Elora's green eyes, and behind her he noticed a flash of white disappear behind a tree. Now he knew what was going on. "Okay, just for me doing that, you can ram me. Go ahead, right on the side." Spyro was acting like he was crushed too. "I'm sorry, Elora. Can you ever forgive me?"  
  
Just at that moment, Zoë and Bianca jumped from behind the tree. "Gotcha!" they shouted together, chiming in as Spyro, Hunter, and Elora shouted it at each other. But it wasn't as it seemed. Spyro shouted to Elora, Elora shouted to Hunter, and Hunter shouted to Spyro. After laughing for a while at each other, the six sat down for their picnic dinner.  
  
Hunter was, as usual, complaining that it didn't go to plan. "They _fooled_ me, Zoë!" he yelled before taking a bite of his BLT. Spyro was just regaining his composure after he and Elora had a word fight, to see who could make up the most words from the last one's last letter. Elora's last one had been Oogleflorgamifitz. "You know that's not a real word, don't you?"  
  
"Come on now, Spyro, futuriffic? That's not in any dictionary that I've seen."  
  
"Well, I guess that means we tied, and the loser had to wash the winner's clothes for a week."  
  
"So I guess you should get to my laundry then, Spyro."  
  
"Yeah... Hey, wait a minute!"  
  
"Oogleflorgamifitz!"  
  
Spyro and Elora burst out in laughter again, annoying the other two couples also on the blanket. "Jeez, they should seriously grow up already!" Sparx complained. "It wasn't that funny."  
  
"Well, Zoë and I had better get going, we do have to grade the younger kids' spells. Those frogs won't live forever." Bianca said after she had finished her sandwich. "I'll see you at home, Hunter."  
  
"You know it, Beeblebah."  
  
"I'll see you too, Sparx." Zoë added with a wink.  
  
The two magical folk flew off, leaving the three friends who had met suddenly only five years before to be together again. "Hey, eight o'clock!" Spyro said as he heard the chimes ring. "This was when I had to face Ratchet that one time!"  
  
"And now that he's away from this planet, I might just have a chance, dragon." Ripto's scepter glowed red behind Spyro, reflecting off of Elora and Hunter's eyes. "And since you're the only thing in my way, I'll take care of you first. _E pluribus mortem!_"  
  
Spyro rolled out of the way of Ripto's magical attack, which burned the blanket below him a dark purple. Ripto's dark eyes focused on Spyro's silhouette against the capital of Avalar. "Don't bother dodging, dragon, you'll only delay my domination of the planet, and maybe even Ratchet and Clank's as well." Ripto charged up his scepter again, but he didn't notice the figure behind him.  
  
"Hey, let me go! Unhand me this instant!" Ripto struggled in vain in Hunter's arms, reaching for the scepter that Elora had quickly taken. "So what's it this time, Shorty? You've tried to take over at least ten different places by now, and you haven't succeeded even once." Spyro told his enemy. "What makes it different this time?" Ripto wasn't paying attention. "Ripto?"  
  
The Riptoc, once a mighty leader and a very powerful sorcerer, was asleep in Hunter's arms, like a baby. "What did you do to him, Hunter?"  
  
"I was just holding him, right here, while you talked to him so he wouldn't get away, and he just zonked on us."  
  
Elora brought the scepter closer to Ripto, and its red glow intensified, bringing to light the problem with Ripto.  
  
"Oh my God, look at his head!" Elora shouted, pointing to the area behind his single horn with her free hand. "It looks like it's all swollen and purple!"  
  
"Pur–Pur–Purple... Pen–Pen–Penny..."  
  
"Ripto?" Spyro drew closer to his enemy. "What purple penny?"  
  
"What? Where is that infernal–? Aaah!" Ripto began to struggle again in Hunter's hands, but he still got nowhere. "Let me go now! Dragon, if you don't tell that moron friend of yours to let me go immediately, your life will be the last thing _you_ need to worry about!"  
  
"Pipe down, Shorty. I want answers." Spyro commanded Ripto to tell him about the bruise that was on his head. "Never! You can't make me speak!"  
  
"Ripto, if you answer us, we'll let you go just this once without a fight." Elora said. "Come on. Are you scared to tell us?"  
  
"Not scared, just... embarrassed." Ripto confessed. "It must come from a power greater than me. A power that could destroy all of Avalar as we know it. It would destroy my home as well, and yours, dragon."  
  
"What is it?" Hunter asked. "Another sorcerer?"  
  
"Maybe his teacher, someone dissatisfied with how he's handled things." Sparx piped up.  
  
"No, not my teacher, or another sorcerer. It's but a penny, a cursed little coin that brings bad luck to all, and causes the holder to be very, very unlucky."  
  
"What?!" Spyro laughed. "A _penny_?! That's it? You're scared of a penny?"  
  
"Not a penny." Ripto clarified, "The Penny. The Purple Penny."  
  
"I can see why he's scared." Hunter joked.  
  
"It has nothing to do with the dragon's color, you hear me?" Ripto wasn't calm anymore. "This one penny could cause the destruction of Avalar, the Dragon Realms, anywhere! Spyro, I am disappointed in myself for asking you this, but... you have to save the world from this penny!"  
  
A nearby phone rang, and when it had rung for a while without anyone answering it, Spyro walked over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"  
  
"Hello, is this... Spyro the Dragon?"  
  
"Oh boy," Spyro thought, "Another crazed fan wants to get my autograph. How did they know I was here?"  
  
"Yes, I'm Spyro. Why?"  
  
"Here at Microsoft, we've been having quite a problem–"  
  
"All right, listen, just because I let Universal put games of my life on every major video game system doesn't mean that I'll sell out to you alone. Seriously!" Spyro was about to angrily hang up the phone when suddenly the voice asked "Do you really want to do that?"  
  
"Do what?" Spyro was really freaked out from this phone call. First, he didn't know who this person was. And now, they knew what he was doing. What was going on?  
  
"Nothing, but I have a proposition for you, Spyro." The voice said.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Our Microsoft Word programs have had many problems in the past few weeks. We need you to come and remedy these problems."  
  
"Why can't you get your own goons to do it? They get paid enough!" Spyro hated remembering his first and only meeting at Microsoft. All of the other characters were so full of themselves, and Spyro was basically the only polite one there.  
  
"Our own 'goons,' as you call them, are busy preparing for the release of Xbox 2 and many new games, and we see that you haven't had many plans recently."  
  
"Well, no." Spyro said as he thought "How do they know this?" "So, you want me to come and save Microsoft Word from being destroyed?"  
  
"Yes. Your transport will arrive in exactly twenty-four hours. You may bring another, but only one. Choose your friends carefully, Spyro, and choose your enemies even more carefully." The phone connection abruptly ended, and Spyro was left with only a dial tone. He hung up the phone, and got a strange chill over him. This was weird. He walked back to where Elora, Hunter, and Sparx were guarding Ripto.  
  
"What was that about?" Elora asked when Spyro was within earshot.  
  
"It was some nut at Microsoft. They want me to come save their Microsoft Word program. I don't know why, but I feel like I have to go, you know, at least to check it out."  
  
"But Spyro, while you're gone, who's going to save Avalar from Ripto?"  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"That's no problem. Two of you guys can handle it, because I can only bring one of you with me."

* * *

Roo: ...  
  
Wex: Don't even try it. I'm on to you."  
  
Antiroo: !yregnahffilC !hooO  
  
Antiech: Antiroo, don't push Wex. He's already fed up with Roo. Don't make it worse.  
  
Platypous: Where's my pudding?!  
  
You get it when you tell the readers what you have to.  
  
Platypous: Fine. Okay, the future of the fanfic is in your hands. You guys get to vote who goes with Spyro, but only because, yet again, TTE can't decide. Who will it be, Sparx, his long-time partner, Elora, his girlfriend, or Hunter, his best friend? TTE wants YOU to vote.  
  
Princess Aquaech: And voting is still open for Sonic's partner, which could be Shadow, Knuckles, or Tails. There's already one vote for Shadow at this time, so get out there and vote! (Hopes people vote for the red hot echidna)  
  
Platypous: But I thought you loved me! And where's my pudding?  
  
Roo: He's P.A.'s harmless crush on a famous person. Get over it.

Platypous: Pudding!

Fine, here!

Platypous: Yay!  
  
Ech: Well, get going! There's a button down there waiting to be pressed! It's lonely! Until next time, see ya!


	3. Mario is Summoned

The Return of the Purple Penny!  
  
Roo: Write this any faster, TTE, and you'll end up finishing the story before July! What's with you?  
  
I just want to get it out there. You know, so people will vote who they want to go with Sonic, Spyro, and Mario, and so I can get the main story started. Remember, I can't do the story without the knowledge of who you want in the story. And just so you know, this is the sequel to The Train and Mario. It happens after Super Komario too, but that's in the Zelda section.  
  
Ech: And so now comes the time where you realize that it's not yours. Mario, Sonic, and Spyro don't belong to TTE. Obviously we do, so don't ask. Thank you.  
  
Wex: Now let's see what happened to Mario since the first time the Purple Penny crossed his path...

* * *

Mario sighed, mostly from exhaustion, after screwing in the last bolt on the toilet he installed in Daisy's castle in Sarasaland. It had been quite a tiring month, every day he had to work, installing another toilet or fixing another sink. He needed a vacation, maybe this time to somewhere that didn't have something Bowser wanted. He'd have to talk to Peach about a vacation to somewhere to the south, like maybe the Hyrule Sea area. They certainly couldn't have a glowing, golden treasure there that could give Bowser ultimate power, could they? That one weird bird kid came from there, and he never mentioned anything higher than the Great Valoo. Mario laughed silently at the weird name he had. "Great Valoo! Mama mia, what crazy names those Hylians have!" Mario picked up his toolbox and flushed the lime green toilet, making sure that it worked, so he could get his pay for this work. When Mario saw that no water was on the ground that could've leaked from the toilet, he left the small bathroom, handing Daisy the bill on his way out of the castle.  
  
"Thank you, Mario!" she called after him.  
  
"All in a day's-a work!" Mario yelled back while he walked back to his car. He tossed the toolbox into the back seat, started the engine, and drove off, bound for the Mushroom Kingdom.  
  
Meanwhile, in another part of the world, in the realms that Bowser controlled, experiments were being done on one of Mario's previously captured items: the purple penny.  
  
"Bwa ha ha!" Bowser laughed as the strange, purple coin was zapped with electricity again. "Now that I have this, the one thing that can beat Mario, not with any brute strength, but with bad luck, I can finally get him out of my hair for good!" The electricity that was shocking the penny stopped and Bowser looked at the results. "Surprisingly good," he said. "The penny allowed more electricity to get through it than any regular penny."  
  
"Sir," a Goomba interrupted, "There is a call waiting for you on line six."  
  
"Don't bother me now, imbecile; there are only a few more experiments I need to take care of."  
  
"But sir, the Boss is calling!"  
  
"I don't care about the– Wait, the Boss?" Bowser asked in fear, "What does he want?"  
  
"Ask him yourself. He wanted you to personally tell him how the penny project is going, and how soon he could expect the heroics of you-know- who."  
  
Bowser walked over to the phone, grumbling about how anyone else could have told him the same thing: that penny was no ordinary penny. "Hello, Boss?"  
  
"Bowser, you moron!" the Boss yelled from the other end. "If I wanted to know how much it would help people get power into their homes, I would've told you to test how much it conducts electricity!"  
  
"Sorry, sir." Bowser replied sheepishly.  
  
"Don't 'Sorry, sir' me, Bowser, you know that I need at least twenty thousand of those pennies as soon as I can get them to get rid of the three enemies of our corporation!" the boss gasped after he said the last words. "Quick, hang up, the line's been tapped!" Bowser tried to get his word in edgewise, but it was too late, all that remained was a dial tone. "Twenty thousand purple pennies!" Bowser yelled. "That's impossible! How am I gonna get that kind of material when I don't even know what it's made of?" Bowser continued yelling about the penny, his boss, and at least a thousand other things before he heard alarms going off and a smaller Goomba ran to him. "Mr. Bowser!" it said, "The Purple Penny has escaped!"  
  
Bowser looked behind him to find one of the strangest sights in the world. The penny was no longer just an inanimate object, it was floating on its own, twisting and turning as it pleased. "Bowser," It finally spoke, "You have experimented on me for the last time. I will report to my master at once, and from there create my own world!"  
  
"Penny, I am your master!" Bowser shouted back. "You report to me!"  
  
"No, brainless Bowser, you are not." The penny continued, "For you now belong to me!" The penny now showed its true power, as it glowed an evil, malicious, dark purple. It came towards Bowser, and before he had any time to react, it disappeared into him, reappearing on his left eye. His right eye glowed the same purple that the penny did moments before, and Bowser's soul, though it was also evil, was almost lost forever. Penny-Bowser turned to look at the Goomba that had warned Bowser of the penny's escape, and commanded it to go and get Mario. This would be just the beginning of the penny's evil.  
  
"Peach?" Mario called out as he entered the castle in Mushroom Kingdom. "Peach? Where are you-a?"  
  
"Up here, Mario!" Peach said with a wink. She ran down the stairs, her pink dress trailing behind her, to greet Mario after his day at work. "So, Mario, how has it been?"  
  
"It hasn't been-a good." Mario told the story of the day, how he had to first remove Daisy's dirty, white and yellow–or at least that's what color he thought it was–toilet. Then he had to get a whole new wax ring after the first one he used started to melt and leak. [Seriously, this happened in my own bathroom. It really stinks.] Mario went on about his day, while Peach got some tea, drank half the pot, and went to the bathroom herself. When she returned, Mario was looking at her as if she had just heard the entire story and was looking for input. Peach's face wasn't the type you'd ask that question, Mario found, and he asked her what was wrong. She immediately replied with "The toilet's leaking again."  
  
"Mama mia!" Mario cried again, taking his wrench out of his pocket. He'd only fix this toilet because he knew his vacation plan would work. It had worked before, when they went to Isle Delfino, and he was sure it would work again, seeing that Peach was really busy now as well. He walked towards the bathroom and saw nothing but total destruction. The toilet was nearly filled up with water now, and some was all over the floor. Mario reached into his pocket to get a nut to hopefully stop the leak temporarily while he got a new wax ring, when all of a sudden, he pulled IT out. He looked at his fingers and saw IT, not believing his eyes. After the flying train accident, he had thrown the penny to the depths of the lake of lava outside of Bowser's castle, but here it was, purple as before, completely whole and unchanged by the incident. "Mario? What's wrong?" Peach's voice came from the castle's main room. "It's–it's back..."  
  
"What's back, Mario?" Peach ran back to where Mario was in the bathroom, and she saw the Purple Penny. "What... What is that?"  
  
"I am the Purple Penny!" It yelled as it floated out of Mario's glove, "And now, Mario, you will pay for what you have done to me!"  
  
The Goomba that the penny had sent to Mario earlier ran into the room. "Mario, you've been summoned by Bowser for a challen– Oh." The Goomba watched the Purple Penny float into the air and transform into Bowser, with the Purple Penny in his eye.  
  
"Bowser, you were-a behind this-a the whole time?!" Mario yelled, "How could you have-a gotten into my pocket?"  
  
"He didn't," the Goomba said, "That's the evil Purple Penny, the same one you destroyed, but it came back!"  
  
"I am not Bowser!" the penny yelled. "And you, Mario, are going to be the first one to die."  
  
"Not if I can-a help it!"  
  
"Luigi!" Peach yelled, "Get Bowser out of my bathroom!" Mario jumped over the toilet and threw out a fireball from his hand. "No! Not the–" Penny-Bowser smashed Peach's brand new red toilet to pieces. "–toilet." "Here we go!" Luigi shot his own green fire towards Bowser to distract him from Peach's sink. "Mario, look out!"  
  
"Mama mia!" Mario yelled as Bowser swung his tail at the red plumber. "No! Not my–" CRASH! "–sink." Mario was in the corner now, his head throbbing from Penny-Bowser's powerful blow. He tried to get up to help his brother, but his head started to spin. Before he knew it, he was on the ground again, and everything went black...  
  
"Mario!" Peach yelled in terror when she saw Mario's hat fall off of his head. "Bowser, you'll pay for that!" The princess jumped into the air and began to smack the living daylights out of Bowser, knocking the penny out in the process. Its purple metal clinked on the tile floor, which was now irreparable, and Bowser returned to his same self. "Where... Where am I?" He said while looking around to see Peach, Luigi, Mario, and then... IT. "Penny, you have disobeyed me for the last time! Take this!" Bowser let out his flame breath, but when he stopped, it was still there. "You still do not realize my true power, Bowser." The penny said. "You may have stopped me from possessing the entire Mushroom Kingdom for the moment, but I will return– next time for your lives. Farewell!"  
  
After the penny disappeared into one of the small toadstools that decorated Peach's bathroom, or what was left of it, Peach, Luigi, and Bowser ran over to Mario's seemingly lifeless body in the corner. "Mario, wake-a up!" Luigi picked up his brother's red hat to inspect it for any signs of darker red. "Mario, I know you can pull through." Peach said with tears in her eyes. "Please, Mario."  
  
Mario slowly opened his eyes and looked around to his brother and girlfriend. "Mama mia, I feel like a train hit me." Mario took his cap back from his green brother and stood up, only to see Bowser standing behind Peach and Luigi with a guilty look on his face. "Uh, Peachie," Mario said while he pulled Peach to the side, right by where the toilet used to be, "What is-a Bowser doing in your-a bathroom?"  
  
"Mario, I came here by accident, I never meant for that penny to get so out of control." Bowser stated just as guiltily as he looked. "That thing must be stopped before it gets even more out of hand."  
  
"How can I-a stop it, Bowser?" Mario asked him. "You-a saw it just-a disappear into that-a mushroom! It just vanished!"  
  
"I have a plan just for this kind of situation. It's heading for the world of Microsoft. I don't know what it plans to do there, more than likely it'll destroy them like it destroyed your bathroom, Princess Toadstool."  
  
"Well, if it's-a on its way to-a Microsoft, how can we stop it?"  
  
"Yes, Bowser, their empire is more than half of this planet, there could be no way that even if we combined our forces that we could even try to stop its brainwashing tactics on their heroes."  
  
All three stopped at Peach's statement and thought of how doomed the entire world would be because of the penny. Nobody said a word until finally, Luigi shouted out the answer: "We could-a warn them before it gets there!"  
  
"It wouldn't work, Luigi." Bowser stated with a sigh. "They're preparing for their new games and system. But if we could somehow get others besides us to stop that penny, it just might be able to be defeated!"  
  
"Well, call up Microsoft right-a now, and let's-a go!"  
  
Bowser ran over to Peach's small pink phone and dialed the number for Bill Gates, the only one who could orchestrate this kind of cooperative action between the heroes that were stars of many games for each of the companies. He would ask him just what to do, and what to tell them all. Bowser was anxious as he dialed all of the numbers, when the line went busy. "Noooo!" he yelled, "Now none of us will be safe from that–" RIIIING! RIIIING! Mario ran over to the phone and picked it up as it rang for the third time, answering to a gruff voice. "Hello? Is this the Mushroom Kingdom?"  
  
"Yes-a. I'm-a Mario. Can-a I-a help you?"  
  
"Mario, there is a problem here at Microsoft. An evil purple penny is taking over our Microsoft Word programs and making them viruses that could destroy the entire world if left alone."  
  
"What a coincidencie. We were-a just about to call your-a boss."  
  
"Listen, I need you to come to the land under Microsoft Jurisdiction and help us get rid of this penny."  
  
"I'm-a on it!" Mario yelled into the telephone.  
  
"Listen," the gruff voice said, "You may bring one more person with you. No more. You leave in twenty-four hours. Thank you, Mario." The voice on the other end hung up the phone, leaving Mario with a dial tone, just like the other two. Mario hung up the phone and turned to face Bowser, Luigi, and Peach. "Who was that?" "What did they say?" Luigi and Peach asked.  
  
"It was-a someone from Microsoft. They-a said that they're already having problems with-a that penny. I'm-a going to their land to help them-a out."  
  
"Well, Mario, it-a should be easy if we all-a go together to stop it!" Luigi yelled enthusiastically.  
  
"Only one-a problem, Luigi," Mario stated sadly, "I-a can only bring-a one of you."

* * *

Antiroo: Hey, everyone! Vote the one who goes with Mario to Microsoft to stop the evil Purple Penny! It could be Luigi, Peach, or Bowser, so choose wisely for the fate of the story!  
  
Princess Aquaech: And voting will still be open for Sonic's partner, Shadow, Tails, or Knuckles, and Spyro's partner, Sparx, Elora, or Hunter. Vote now so TTE can keep his schedule of making the next chapter, the one where they all meet, by July.  
  
Antiech: As of now, the votes stand at this:

* * *

Spyro's partner: Hunter: 2, Elora: 0, Sparx: 0

Sonic's partner: Knuckles: 1, Shadow: 2, Tails: 1

Mario's Partner: Luigi: 0, Peach: 0, Bowser: 0

* * *

Platypous: TTE will be updating this list every time he gets a review until July 1st, so hurry up and review! He really wants to know everyone you picked, so tell him each partner in your review. Or even in an e-mail. Just put the subject as "Purple Penny Partners," and he'll check it out. Well, until July, review and look out for falling Spyrocitor updates. 


	4. The Blue Blur, a Purple Dragon, and a Re...

The Return of the Purple Penny!  
  
Chapter 1: The Blue Blur, a Purple Dragon, and a Red Plumber  
  
Well, the votes are finally in, and now the first chapter is coming out!  
  
Princess Aquaech: Knuckles won! Yay! Maybe TTE can get me some backstage passes and I can meet him...  
  
Platypous: No! It can't be! Aww!  
  
Ech: Hunter won too. It's just too bad that Elora didn't, TTE had some plans for her.  
  
Roo: I'm sure that TTE had plans. More than likely it was you who wanted those backstage passes to meet her.  
  
Antiech: Who wouldn't?  
  
Antiroo: Grrrr...  
  
Antiech: Uh... heh heh. Not that I would...  
  
Wex: And Luigi won too. But TTE doesn't own any of them. And the funny thing is that I'm always on the disclaimer.  
  
Well, we'll have time for complaints later, Wex. Now it's time to get the story started!

* * *

* * *

"Knuckles, you're up." Sonic said, pointing at the red echidna. "Sorry, Tails, Shadow, I just think that Knuckles is just the best choice."  
  
"Don't worry about it, Sonic." Shadow said while he took out Tails' fake Emerald, "I'm sure that the echidna has much more knowledge of the Chaos Emeralds than I do."  
  
Knuckles looked at Shadow thankfully. Now he didn't have to trust the Master Emerald to anyone, or risk having the Chaos Emeralds going on another rampage. "I may have more knowledge of the Emeralds, and I may guard their Master, but my power isn't anything compared to yours or Sonic's, Shadow."  
  
"Sonic, wait!" Tails yelled as Sonic turned to leave with Knuckles to wait for their transport. Sonic tuned to look at Tails, but he was already gone from sight, appearing from his room's doorway moments later holding his Chaos Emerald. "Take my Emerald with you!"  
  
"Tails, I already have the blue one with me, just in case I need to use Chaos Control."  
  
"I would think it wise to take more than one Emerald with you, Sonic." Robotnik told his blue former foe. Sonic thought about it for a moment, holding out his blue emerald, while the others around him produced the purple, light blue, red, and green Emeralds, and Robotnik himself held out the gray Chaos Emerald. "They might be your only chance of defeating that penny!"  
  
"What can I say, Doc? You guys are the greatest!" Knuckles pulled out his own Emerald, the Master Emerald, and put it, along with the other seven Emeralds, into Sonic's backpack. Knuckles and Sonic were about to get their other stuff ready to leave when Tails yelled to them from the window.  
  
"Sonic! There's a metal thing outside that says your name on the side!" Knuckles got to the window first, looking at the transport disgustedly. "'& Friend'?" he yelled in disbelief, "Sonic gets half of the thing having his logo on it, and all I get is '& Friend'?"  
  
"Oh, just be happy that you got mentioned." Shadow was again irate at something. "I got to be the guest star in Sonic Adventure 2, but he didn't tell them about how I wanted to be in the title."  
  
Shadow continued to go on about his exclusion from every one of the times in Sonic's life that Sega had published, when he was as much there as he was during their actual adventures in ARK and against Metal Sonic. Sonic ignored him and his self-centered nature, being that he still thought that he was the Ultimate Life Form, and walked outside with Knuckles. They walked up to the transport, opened the door, and walked in.  
  
"Welcome, Sonic the Hedgehog and Friend," the computer inside told Sonic when the door had shut. "There it goes again! 'And Friend'!" Knuckles was still fuming from Microsoft's ignorance of his existence. "Knuckles the Echidna, welcome to the Microsoft Transport Version 1.21." "Hey, how'd you make it do that?" Sonic shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the couch behind him. "Sonic and Knuckles, your adventure will begin now. The Purple Penny is affecting our programs and may destroy Microsoft, eventually spreading to your world to continue its destruction." Sonic nodded at the computer. "Take us to Microsoft. We can handle it."  
  
"Thank you, Sonic." The computer told the two heroes to sit down and prepare for liftoff and to pay attention to the biographies of the others who would help them to vanquish the Penny. "This is boring, Knuckles. Change the station." The computer began to rattle on about Spyro the Dragon as Knuckles turned the knob to his own favorite station: K-NUX. The transport shifted to high power, taking Sonic and Knuckles to their destination.

* * *

Spyro slept the night after his mysterious call from Microsoft, tossing and turning from his horrible nightmares of chaos, bright, golden lights, and finally of all of Avalar below his feet, two others floating in empty space near him. He woke up with a jolt, turning on the light and getting up from where he slept. "I know just who I'll bring." He read the large clock tower across from his apartment in Avalaria, Avalar's capital: 5:22 A.M. The transport would be near soon, he had to tell his friends.  
  
"Spyro, what are you doing up so early?" Sparx asked from his breakfast of magical fodder butterflies. Spyro just shook his head while he sat next to his friend in the apartment kitchen. "I'm not bringing you with me to Microsoft. Sorry, buddy."  
  
"Aw, don't worry about it, Spyro. It's a lot more fun around here anyway. And less dangerous, too." Spyro shook his head again, this time laughing at his small dragonfly partner. "Thanks for making me feel better about this, Sparx." He said sarcastically.  
  
"So if I'm not coming along, then who will?"  
  
Well, I was thinking that–" Someone knocked at the door. "Hold on, Sparx, I'll get that."  
  
Spyro walked through his small living room, where he had agreed to let Ripto spend the night, and over to the door. Ripto was still sound asleep, snoring as drool flowed from his mouth and onto the couch below. Spyro walked slowly over to him and kicked him swiftly, stirring him from his dreams of taking over Avalar. "Wake up, Shorty, there's someone at the door." Ripto groggily gazed around the dark room. His fortress usually wasn't this dark, and Crush and Gulp never called him– "Shorty, come on, unless you want whoever it is to see you in your underwear!" Ripto looked at the dark shape in front of him. "Aaagh! Get away from me!" Ripto looked for his scepter and pulled it out, illuminating Spyro's face with red light. "Oh, it's just you." Ripto looked at Spyro for a second. "Hey, wait a minute, what am I doing here?"  
  
Spyro was already at the door, though, and opened it so that Elora could enter. She didn't look too good; Ripto figured that she had just woken up. "I don't know what it is, Spyro, but I just can't get this bright green shape out of my head." Spyro closed the door as she walked into the living room and was barely able to stifle a laugh. "And I thought that you wore only dark clothes, Ripto." Ripto stood there, completely paralyzed by both Spyro and Elora's presence in the room–the room that he was in his underwear in. Ripto ran off to the bathroom with a high-pitched scream, grabbing his dark robes before locking the door and hiding away.  
  
"I had the same dream, Elora. Only it was a purple light." The door was again rapped on, this time by everyone's favorite cheetah, Hunter. "Hey, Spyro, did you decide who's gonna go with you to Microsoft yet?" Hunter was his usual enthusiastic self, which Spyro couldn't understand, it was only just about 6 A.M. "Well, that's what I wanted to talk about guys." Spyro sat down at his table after pouring them all a glass of orange juice, and Elora and Hunter pulled up a chair each. Hunter sat down on his backwards, while Elora sat down normally, her eyes focused on Spyro completely, while Hunter's were darting around the room. "How do you keep so enthusiastic, Hunter?"  
  
"One word, Spyro: caffeine."  
  
"Now, Elora, I know we've been together for almost five years now." Spyro took a drink of his juice. Elora nodded at him, he had saved Avalar from Ripto on July 26th, 1999, the day that they went on their first date in Dragon Shores. "Well, I know that you wanted to be together on our anniversary, but... Hunter can use a bow and arrow better than you."  
  
"Oh, don't worry, Spyro." Elora said. "I'm sure that even if you don't stop that penny by then you'll at least call me and talk to me. Right?"  
  
"Of course, Elora." Spyro was relieved by her tolerating his decision. "Tell you what, I'll bring you back a souvenir, and then we can have our anniversary dinner when I get back."  
  
A bright light flashed into Elora's vision as she and Spyro looked out toward the Avalarian Clock Tower, and she covered her eyes. Ahead of them, a metal ship-like object landed in the street just across from Spyro's window. On its side, Spyro's name was painted in bright purple letters, matching the color of the dragon himself. "Well, there's our ride, Hunter, we should get going." Spyro gave Elora his keys to the apartment as he walked out the door, hugging her goodbye as he closed the door behind him. Elora yelled out to him quickly, stopping him from getting into the elevator just in time. "Wait, Spyro, take these Orbs with you, you might need them." Spyro thanked her again, and closed the door behind him. Ripto heard the door closing from his position in the bathroom, and opened the door to see if everyone was gone. "Whew, at least that annoying faun, Elor–Aw, crap."  
  
"Hey, why don't I get any recognition on the side? I should at least have a cool logo like you, Spyro."  
  
"Well, it does say '& Friend' on the side, so I guess that they figured that I might pick anyone." The door opened to Spyro and Hunter, gull-wing style, and they stepped into their transport. "Welcome, Spyro the Dragon and Friend." The computerized voice was the same as it was for Sonic and Knuckles. "We at Microsoft have made many accommodations for you, such as–" "Hey, a couch!" Hunter sat down on the cushiony green fabric, allowing him to rest his legs from the short walk over. "You can tell me later, computer. I'll figure out the stuff in here by myself."  
  
"Hey, Spyro!" Hunter yelled excitedly from his spot on the couch, "Look at this, they have a cappuccino machine here!"  
  
Spyro sighed and sat down on the couch after telling the computer to take off. It was going to be one long ride.

* * *

Mario surveyed the mess that was Peach's former bathroom after his call from Microsoft. It was completely destroyed; water was spurting up from where the toilet and sink used to be, and the tile was scratched so much that the Mushroom Kingdom's national emblem was barely visible on even the less wrecked ones. "Peachie's gonna need a new bathroom." Mario said with a sigh, and turned to walk back to tell her about Bowser's irreversible renovations. He would get his company to work on it while he was gone, and he could only trust Peach there to keep it supervised. He couldn't take her, and there was just something about Bowser that bothered him... Luigi would have to go. Mario went downstairs with his mind made up to tell the three waiting contenders who he'd take with him.  
  
"Guys, I'm-a sorry about the penny. I should have-a destroyed it before it got so out of control-a."  
  
"No, Mario, I'm the one who should be sorry." Bowser hung his head in shame. "I made that penny what it was for my boss, the one who wants that penny for himself, as well as twenty thousand more just like it."  
  
"Bowser, you should-a be safe here. Peachie, you too. I'll-a take Luigi to Microsoft and destroy that penny once and for all."  
  
"But Mario, you know what happened to you in the bathroom!" Peach started to cry, talking over her sobs. "If that penny gets any more powerful, it could actually kill you next time!"  
  
"No it won't-a, Princess Peachie." Luigi took charge of the situation, deciding just what they'd do. He asked Peach for some of the Power Stars that guarded he castle for their extra powers, since he and Mario both figured that if the Penny did get any more powerful, they'd need extra protection too. Peach agreed to the loss of eight of her 120 stars, just for the moment until the Purple Penny was defeated.  
  
"We'll be back-a soon, Peachie!" Mario called out to her as he and Luigi walked out the castle door. Mario did feel cautious about leaving Bowser with Peach, but he figured that this time he would let Mario go to battle the greater evil of the Purple Penny in peace.  
  
"Where is-a that transport?" Mario scratched his head as a dark shadow overtook both him and Luigi. "Hey, Mario, when-a did the sun-a stop shining? It's-a broad daylight!"  
  
Mario looked above him to see the transport falling quickly towards them both, shouting "Mama mia!" just as Luigi pushed him out of the way and the transport fell to the ground where they stood not five seconds before. It didn't look very sleek, and its formerly shiny metal surface was covered in rust. "I-a guess we got one of-a the older models, heh heh."  
  
"Well, it's-a here, so we should-a get in." Luigi opened up the gull-wing door, having to crack much of the rust on the hinges and bottom before it opened with a loud squeal. What he saw inside was terrible: All of the controls were covered in rust of all different metal types, and the seats looked as if they had been submerged for quite some time. Thankfully, the screen on the computer still worked, and Mario could see his name, as well as '& Friend,' written on its black background in white letters. Luigi saw the keyboard, and after struggling to get it unstuck from the wall where a rotten, old candy cane had it stuck, typed in his own name instead of the 'Friend.' He figured that the thing was voice activated, being that it came from Microsoft, so he said his catchphrase to make it go. "Let's-a go!" The craft remained motionless. "I-a said, 'Let's-a go!'" Luigi kept yelling 'Let's-a go!' at the computer, hoping that it would work, when Mario pressed a small, inconspicuous red button.  
  
"Mama mia, what did you-a do, Mario?"  
  
"It looks-a like I-a started this thing-a up." Mario took the small steering wheel in his hands and pulled back, causing the not-shut door to wiggle up and down and smash Luigi's hand before opening up once more. "Mama mia, that-a smarts!" Luigi reached for the handle as Mario took off at a safe speed: 35 miles per hour.  
  
"Speed it up, Mario!" Luigi yelled at his brother once the door was taken care of. "The Hylian Sea is-a more than 200 miles from-a here, and Microsoft's not for another 700 miles after that!"  
  
"If-a you have so many-a complaints, why don't you-a drive?" Mario looked angrily at Luigi, not noticing that their speed was increasing quickly to 500, 600, 700 miles per hour. Mario kept looking angrily at Luigi, not paying attention to the window in front of him. "You always want your own way, Luigi, and you... what's-a this?"  
  
The computer screen was blinking black and white, displaying "WARNING" as Mario and Luigi argued. The two looked up just in time to see a huge white tower increasing in size very drastically as the seconds ticked on. "Mama mia!" Luigi yelled and took the wheel. Unfortunately, he only managed to rip it right off. "Look at-a what you-a did now, Luigi!" The Tower of the Gods approached quickly in the window, and Mario resorted to smashing every button in the craft to somehow make up for what happened. Miraculously, he it an Install button just as the Tower seemed to be right on top of them, upgrading the cruddy old system to the brand new Windows QK. The control switched to autopilot, and Luigi and Mario's lives were spared–for the moment, as they traveled over the Great Sea towards their destination: Microsoft.

* * *

* * *

Antiech: Wow TTE, that took quite a while to write. You finished now?  
  
Well, I want it to be good. You can't rush these things, you know. And now I'll get to work on Chapter 2, where I'll let you vote on some other outcome of the story. But not this time, sorry.  
  
Antiroo: But hey, still review, and maybe, just maybe, TTE will get to work on this when he finishes with part of his next, over the summer, stupid, evil, and morally wrong English project: Reading over the Summer, FOR A GRADE!  
  
And to think that the school could've let me just read my second favorite trilogy of all time, and I'd be fine. I'd gladly write a book report on that, even a book, if I could.  
  
Platypous: See you next time for some more of the story. But now, TTE has to stop writing and get on with ideas for next chapter. Bye! 


	5. Arrival at Microsoft

The Purple Penny's Return!  
  
Chapter 2: Stars, Chaos, and Orbs  
  
Princess Aquaech: So, where are my backstage passes, TTE?  
  
Uh, Princess, you're part of the cast and crew, you're already backstage.  
  
Princess Aquaech: I am? All right! I'm gonna go get Knuckles' autograph! (runs off to get Knuckles)  
  
Platypous: You just had to tell her, didn't you, TTE. (runs off after Princess Aquaech)  
  
Ech: Hey, wait, if we're part of the cast and crew, that means I can control the music! Dramatic fanfare, play your loudest!  
  
(Dramatic fanfare)  
  
Roo: TTE doesn't own Spyro, Sonic, or Mario. And he doesn't own Microsoft either.  
  
Wex: All right, dramatic fanfare, you can cut it out now. We're going on to the fanfic.  
  
(Dramatic fanfare)  
  
Wex: TTE, make it stop!

* * *

Sonic's transport landed in the middle of Microsoft's Xbox garden slowly as its steel panels cooled down from the atmospheric entry. Setting down its landing gear as the gull-wing door opened, the steel's grey color returned to the red hot panels.  
  
"I can't believe it, we're in the actual Xbox garden!" Knuckles looked around at the spires rising around him, the nearest one having a greenish color to the windows. That was apparently the Xbox Live control center. Sonic wasn't as enthusiastic about being in the Xbox garden as Knuckles was, however. "Just make sure that there's no Microsoft robots or anything to take us hostage, Knuckles. Microsoft's known to be even more heinous than even Eggman at his worst." Sonic stepped out onto the metal path in the garden named after Microsoft's first console platform, looking around for any kind of traps that Microsoft might have for him, Sega's mascot. Unknown to him, behind his and Knuckles' transport, another was landing.  
  
"We're finally here, Spyro, isn't that awesome?" Hunter was really getting annoying by now, and Spyro hadn't slept any of the way there. Spyro opened the gull-wing door to the outside, catching a glimpse of a green X made out of leaves over a similar steel transport in front of him.. "So, this is the Xbox garden?" Spyro thought it might've been bigger, and the parking was just terrible. How was he supposed to meet whoever the other heroes were if he could barely get out of the transport?  
  
"Sonic, help me get these Emeralds out of the backpack." Spyro looked around the transport in front of him, seeing a red echidna and a blue hedgehog grabbing various colored gems from a backpack. One looked as worthless as a red Gem, but Spyro saw one that would be worth 25 Gems back home and in Avalar. Spyro went closer as the echidna and hedgehog were busy digging in the backpack again, and grabbed the purple jewel. As he held it, he felt a power not unlike what he felt when he held an orb in his claws. "Look out, Sonic; the Master Emerald's still very breakable." The echidna apparently had some sort of responsibility for this Master Emerald, and it had some sort of connection to this purple gem. Spyro looked the other way to see Hunter dancing around, getting the caffeine out of his system and picking up some flowers for Bianca. He started to spin the purple gem on his claw, then letting it roll across the back of his shoulders and arms to the other hand.  
  
The echidna turned to look at the other seven gems, making sure that every one was there. "Let's see, the Master Emerald, the red Chaos Emerald, the blue Chaos Emerald, the yellow Chaos Emerald, the green Chaos Emerald, the light blue Chaos Emerald, the gray Chaos Emerald... Hey, Sonic, is the purple Chaos Emerald in the backpack?"  
  
Sonic was about to answer as Knuckles' eyes met with Spyro's. Knuckles saw the Chaos Emerald that the purple dragon was twirling on his left claw. "What do you think you're doing?! That's a Chaos Emerald you have there, not a toy!"  
  
While Knuckles continued to yell at Spyro as he kept twirling the purple Emerald, Sonic figured out just who he was. "Hey, Knuckles, don't sweat it, this isn't anyone from Microsoft trying to steal the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic pointed to the transport next to their own. "He's Spyro the Dragon, Sony's chief mascot! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, Spyro." Sonic extended his hand to the dragon. Spyro shook it with his free hand as Knuckles took his precious Chaos Emerald and put it with the rest. "That still doesn't give him an excuse to take a Chaos Emerald and start playing around with it."  
  
Sonic shook his head at Knuckles. "Are you always gonna do that?" Spyro got Hunter from his caffeine rampage around the garden. The four heroes got acquainted with each other, shaking hands and trading Chaos Emeralds and Orbs. Spyro got the purple Chaos Emerald that he was playing with earlier, while Hunter got the yellow one. While Knuckles wasn't very happy with the idea that someone who was so irresponsible like Spyro had one of the seven Chaos Emeralds, at least now Knuckles could concentrate on the Master Emerald again. And since Sonic had the blue Chaos Emerald, all that needed to be done was to find out who else was coming to take care of the red, green, light blue and gray Chaos Emeralds.  
  
"Mama mia, Luigi, why don't you be more careful with your driving?"  
  
"My-a driving, Mario?" Luigi was obviously very angry. "If it wasn't for my- a driving, we wouldn't be around any more-a!" The plumbers walked around the front of both of the other transports, coming into view of the other four heroes.  
  
"Mama mia, it's-a Sonic and Spyro!" Mario and Luigi walked over to the four and brought out their own super items, the Power Stars, to trade to Spyro for an Orb each and to trade to Sonic for the red and green Chaos Emeralds. The six agreed that since they each had one Chaos Emerald, one Power Star, and one Orb, that the other two that they brought with them each would go to Bill Gates himself for safekeeping. Mario ran ahead of Luigi and the others to enter Microsoft's inner sanctum for a meeting with Bill Gates, leaving his brother behind with the rest. "Why couldn't I have-a stayed in the Mush-a-room Kingdom?" Luigi followed Hunter, Spyro, Sonic and Knuckles into the building after his complaint, and the steel double doors closed behind him.  
  
Inside of the spire nearest to the Xbox Garden, the green windows colored the floor from all directions. Two spiraling staircases rose from the floor to the left and right of the main desk, where there was a large green X, apparently the head of all Xbox Live operations. Mario approached the desk followed by the other five, giving the X quite an alarm. "Sonic the Hedgehog? Spyro the Dragon? Super Mario? Well, as unorthodox as it would look, are you guys here to sign up for a new Xbox game?"  
  
Sonic declined for the group. "No, we're here to see your boss. It's about that Purple Penny." The X pointed them up the spiraling stairs to its left, where above, a golden room held the Master of Microsoft himself, Bill Gates. Sonic ran up the stairs first, causing them to be quite hot as the others walked up, especially the barefoot Hunter.  
  
"See, Knuckles? I told you that Microsoft had robots ready to capture us at their first chance!" Sonic pointed towards Gates' office, where, sure enough, two large guard robots patrolled the area. "Well, you know, since we each have a Chaos Emerald, why don't you just use Chaos Control to get us past?" Sonic took out his blue Emerald, making sure that there was no possible way that this could backfire, like Knuckles having the Master Emerald too close like the time when Tails tested how it would work with the Super Emeralds. "Chaos Control!" The blue light enveloped Sonic and caused him to disappear, now going so fast that no one could see him, except for one...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
THUD! Sonic ran right into a solid object, stopping him from entering Gates' office. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Looks like Sega sent an assassin to wipe Microsoft off them map, eh?" An orange cat grabbed Sonic by his back, the world around them still frozen in time. "Well, I never would've expected it, Sonic the Hedgehog! Who'd think that Sega would send their best and only mascot here to be exterminated, like all the rest?" Sonic saw the cat's green eyes stare into his soul, as if the cat was going to just murder him right then and there. Sure, Sonic had gotten out of situations like this before, but Robotnik wasn't any real problem to deal with, and Sonic wasn't usually in the warped reality of frozen Space-Time. "Talk, hedgehog! I want answers! Why did Sega send you here?"  
  
Sonic recognized this cat. He was Blinx, the Time Sweeper! If he saw the Chaos Emerald... Sonic didn't want to think of what could happen. He had to get out of Blinx's hands and into Bill Gates' office or else the Purple Penny could destroy the whole world! "You're right, I am Sonic the Hedgehog. But I didn't come here to murder Bill Gates. Heck, I only came here to do what I've been doing for years, save the world from evil."  
  
"A likely story." Three more creatures with the same gear as Blinx had appeared behind him, approaching Sonic quickly. "Right on time. I figured that I'd need backup, since I am facing the world famous Sonic the Hedgehog, but I guess I was wrong. Take all of his valuables, as well as those of his friends, and take them all to the dungeon. We'll deal with them there."  
  
Sonic clutched the blue Chaos Emerald closely, keeping it hidden from the Time Sweepers' sight, as his Light Shoes, Bounce Bracelet, and Fire Ring were removed. As long as all seven Emeralds weren't in the possession of anyone with questionable motives, there was still hope. Sonic watched as the Time Sweepers picked up the frozen figures of Knuckles, Spyro, Hunter, Mario, and Luigi, taking each Chaos Emerald, Orb, and Power Star they had, and draging them, along with Sonic, to the subterranean Microsoft Dungeon.

* * *

Roo: Ooh! I bet no one expected that to happen! I know I thought that Sonic would just get into the office.  
  
Antiroo: And TTE left us with a 100%, downright evil cliffhanger. What's with the lack of pointing that one out, Roo?  
  
Roo: I got bored. Well, time to vote!  
  
Antiroo: Hey, are we the only ones here?  
  
Wex: No, I am too. Well, for this chapter, you get to vote on which way they get out of the dungeon! Will it be because Bill Gates learns of their capture and releases them, or will they have to get out on their own using teamwork? Oh, and TTE won't tell you which way won at the start, you'll have to wait until the middle of the next chapter to find out! Voting will end on July 16th!  
  
Roo: So review, tell us what you want them to do, lame 'oh, they're all right, release them,' or cool, super special effects intensive action sequence where they escape from Microsoft's dungeon? And now we have to find Ech and Antiech.  
  
(At Elora's dressing room)  
  
Antiech: Hello? Elora? Are you there? Can I have your autograph?  
  
Ech: We promise that we're not over reactive fanboys on a sugar high. Please?  
  
Princess Aquaech: Oh Knuckles...  
  
Knuckles: Argh! Save me, TTE! You're the director! Review, everyone! Maybe then I can get this crazy princess away from me! 


	6. Microsoft's Dungeon

The Purple Penny Returns!  
  
Chapter 3: Microsoft's Dungeon  
  
Uh... Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I had other things to tend to.  
  
Ech: And people didn't vote. Not that TTE blames you, it's because the Sonic section gets updated really, really fast, while Spyro and Mario aren't quite so...  
  
Antiech: Evil?  
  
Roo: No. So now let's get out of the cliffhanger before someone destroys the planet.  
  
Wex: Whoa, whoa, Roo, TTE hasn't given out the disclaimer yet.  
  
Oh, fine. I guess I'll do my own for once. I don't own Spyro the Dragon, Sonic the Hedgehog, or Super Mario. I just made this story up to be here. Uh, happy anniversary to Spyro and Elora too. At least according to my fanfic universe.  
  
Antiroo: And from now on, TTE will put up the chapter in the section of the character who has the most action in the chapter. Like last chapter ended with Sonic's Chaos Control, which Sonic fans would know more about (unless they haven't played through Sonic Adventure 2 yet). Okay, no more comedic explanation, we have a cliffhanger to de-cliffhanger-ize.

* * *

The six heroes from the world outside Microsoft hung in its dungeon, suspended on the wall by chains. At least, all of them except for Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic was chained to an iron ball so heavy that he couldn't even move it if he was in his super form, while Knuckles sat with his arms locked in the wall, unable to move them to dig anyone else from their chains.  
  
"Great job, Hedgehog." Spyro yelled at Sonic while he flamed his own chains again. "You've got a real knack for this, don't you?" Sonic wasn't going to take much more of Spyro's complaining, though, and retaliated finally. "Oh, sure, it's not like you volunteered to get rid of those robots back up there!"  
  
While Sonic and Spyro argued, their two partners weren't taking their imprisonment as well as any of the others. "Need... Caffeine!" Hunter kept shouting at random times, while Knuckles' sixth sense for the Chaos Energy contained in the emeralds was going crazy. "I know it's here. I know it. I just haven't found it. It's here. It has to be!" Each time he tried to break away from the wall to try to dig for it, he sprung right back at the wall and continued his fight. Mario and Luigi hung in silence for a while as the rest of them kept to arguing and yelling, but even Luigi couldn't handle it after too long.  
  
"Would everyone just shut-a up?!" he yelled, getting everyone's attention. "Listen, if we all-a pull together, there must-a be a way for us-a to escape this-a dungeon."  
  
"How..." Knuckles gasped as he rested from his insane search for the near source of the Chaos Energy. "How could you think we could escape this dungeon without any of our stuff? Microsoft has the seven Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles got even angrier with each word, his purple eyes burning with rage. "I don't even have the Master Emerald to stop them anymore!"  
  
A Microsoft guard walked by the cell where the six were, stopping Knuckles from continuing his rant and creating an utter silence throughout the dungeon. After he had passed, Sonic spoke up. "Knuckles, there's just one thing: Microsoft doesn't have all seven Emeralds."  
  
Knuckles looked straight at Sonic for a second, realizing there was only two possibilities. "Tails didn't give us the _real_ yellow Chaos Emerald, did he?" Sonic shook his head and brought out his own blue Chaos Emerald. Mario dropped his jaw when he saw the blue Emerald glowing brightly in Sonic's hand. "But-a how?"  
  
"Nobody asked you how you beat Bowser all those times, so who's up for another adventure?"  
  
Sonic handed over the Emerald to Knuckles, who used its immense power to release himself from his bonds. After that, Mario got the Emerald, and used its power to bounce himself off the wall. "Mama mia, what a rush-a!" Luigi was next, taking the Emerald and doing a tornado spin to remove himself from the wall. Hunter followed, using the Emerald as a substitute for his caffeine and pulling his chains right off the wall. Only Sonic and Spyro remained stuck to the dungeon. "Sonic, I think I can melt your chains if you can get me off of this wall." Spyro told the hedgehog. Sonic took the Emerald in his own hand, and throwing the caution of the Time Sweepers capturing them again to the wind, shouted the two words he learned from Shadow. "CHAOS CONTROL!" Within an instant, Spyro was freed from his carbon- bound chains and could freely flame Sonic's. Sonic reappeared standing on top of his metal ball just as Spyro dropped to the ground, holding the blue Emerald in his hand. "Whoa, didn't know if I could do that."  
  
Sonic waited for Spyro to melt away the chain, answering the question that Hunter posed to him. "If you could do that and get all the way over there within two seconds, how come you couldn't just get outta here on your own?"  
  
"Remember the cats who put you in here?" Everyone shook their head no. "Oh, right, I was moving in frozen time then. You must've thought that right after I vanished we all appeared here."  
  
Mario stood by the door, acting as lookout while the other five made up their plans. As soon as they found their way out of here, they would get all of their stuff back and get to Bill Gates to have a talk with him. "Sonic! Look at where we are! Microsoft's not stupid! They wouldn't put all seven Emeralds together unless they were going to use them immediately!"  
  
"The guard's-a coming!" Mario yelled, alerting his friends. The six jumped back to their spots on the wall as the guard passed by, and after he was gone, they slowly crept over to open the door. Sonic had seen the hallway before, as he was carried in to the cell with the others. He had come from their left, and as the Time Sweepers released him from the stopped time of Chaos Control, he saw them take the other six Chaos Emeralds, the Power Stars, the Orbs, and the Master Emerald to the right.  
  
"All right, guys, that way's the exit," Sonic told them while pointing left, "and that's where they took the Emeralds, Orbs, and Stars." All six of them followed Sonic down the hallway, stopping at a fork where three separate paths split from the main one. Each had Microsoft's distinctive Xbox logo above it, and through them, the paths stretched out as far as anyone could see.  
  
"Sonic, I feel the Emeralds down there." Knuckles said as he pointed down the path to their right. Sonic agreed with him, holding the blue Chaos Emerald out in front of him. He remembered his friend Tails' speech: The Chaos Emeralds are like magnets...They have the power to attract each other. I can use that to find where Eggman is. Sure enough, the blue Emerald started to pull Sonic closer to the path Knuckles chose. "Well then, the vote's unanimous. Me and Knuckles'll take that path."  
  
Luigi and Mario were deciding which of the two remaining paths they'd choose, looking at each and seeing no difference at all. They looked momentarily at the one that Knuckles and Sonic had gone down, seeing that the Xbox logo had instead become a logo for the pair's first outing together: Sonic & Knuckles–the game. "Luigi, look-a up!" Sure enough, the Xbox logo above the hallway had changed to one of Mario's red M and Luigi's green L. The two took that way, hoping that it wasn't a trap made by Microsoft. Only Spyro and Hunter remained, and since the others were on the other two paths already, they chose the middle. They would now have to find their stuff, as well as a way out of there.

* * *

Sonic & Knuckles

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Sonic and Knuckles ran through the hallway, dodging traps set years before to stop anyone from escaping from the dungeon to leak valuable information to Microsoft's former foes, such as Apple. But the dungeon walls didn't only hold booby traps. No, instead, Sonic and Knuckles stumbled across a sad looking soul, a talking paper clip, who was trying to escape the dungeon himself. "You–You–You're Sonic the Hedgehog..." it said.  
  
"And who are you, some kind of Microsoft guinea pig?" Knuckles asked. Obviously he cared more for the Master Emerald than anything else, including a life so damaged as this one. The paper clip only looked down towards the floor. "No. I was the first one attacked by the Purple Penny. I went insane when it knocked me in the back; I attacked every other office assistant," the paper clip recalled, thinking back to his own battle scene. "I was on someone's home computer, a kid was typing up an essay for English. He depended on us to find errors in the typing so that he wouldn't fail. But just when he was about to print it out... his document became a battleground. First went my best friend, the Dot, who always was able to stop the kid's run-ons... I'll always remember him."  
  
"Listen, I'm sure that your story is sad, but we just don't have time to hear it." "Relax, Knuckles, we can take him with us." Sonic picked up the paper clip and began to run, followed by Knuckles. "My name's Clippit, by the way." Sonic kept running down the hallway, seeing the bright light ahead. "There it is, Knuckles, the way outta here!"  
  
"All right, now we'll be able to find the Master Emerald!" Knuckles followed Sonic into the light, stopping just inches from where Sonic stood inside. "What the heck, Sonic?"  
  
"Look." Sonic pointed ahead of him, at the entire Green Hill Zone.

* * *

Spyro & Hunter

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Spyro and Hunter ran down their own corridor, seeing that ahead of them was a bottomless pit. Hunter, being the one who kept everyone from actually being serious, ran to its edge and looked down. Quoting one of his favorite websites, he only said one thing. "When you fall in a bottomless pit, you die of starvation."  
  
"Hunter, there's a fine line between funny and morbid."  
  
"Well, sorry, Spyro, I was just joking." Hunter looked around to see if there was a way–any way–across this pit. He saw only one way: he would have to shoot an arrow and a rope across the pit to get himself and Spyro across. He took an arrow out of his quiver just as Spyro looked over at him. "Hunter, what the heck are you doing?" Hunter answered him just as he got the arrow ready to fire. "I'm shooting an arrow across the pit, there has to be a way across!"  
  
"You know, it would help a lot if there was a rope attached to that."  
  
"Oh, yeah." Hunter finally got his arrow prepared, and shot it clear across the pit and into darkness. He heard it take hold in a wall with a ping, and pulled the rope taught. Sticking another arrow in the ground, he secured the rope for him and Spyro to climb across. "I feel like a secret agent." Hunter said with a grin. The two completed their Bond-like climb and Hunter again took out his arrows.  
  
"Jeez, now what are you doing with that?" Spyro asked as he let go of the rope. Instead of an answer, Hunter shoved the arrow he had just put in the bow at Spyro's face. "I'm making sure nobody else can get across. Here, can ya breathe fire on this so it'll burn the rope?"  
  
Spyro reluctantly breathed fire on the arrow, starting it on fire. "Now I feel like the Hero of Time." Spyro watched him take the arrow back to fire, saying to himself. "Then maybe I'll get you a green tunic for your birthday." Hunter aimed the arrow at the far end of the rope, pulling it back even further. Any further and he'd– "Augh! My hand! Ohhh!" Hunter dropped the burning arrow and bow and started sucking on his burned hand.  
  
"Hunter, from now on leave the pyrotechnics to me." Spyro burned the near end of the rope as Hunter followed him through the door at the hall's end. Through it, Spyro and Hunter shielded their eyes at the sudden bright sunlight. Before them they saw a place which only Spyro recognized. "What's going on, Spyro? Where the heck are we?"  
  
"I remember this place, but I haven't been here for more than five years." Spyro thought back to his first adventure with a smile on his face. "It's Stone Hill."

* * *

Mario & Luigi

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Mario and Luigi ran down their own hallway, but not quite as far as the other two ran down theirs. Instead of having a doorway at the end of their hall, all they could see was that they were inside of a huge tower. Luigi was the first to notice, however. "Mama mia, look at-a that." Mario craned his neck to look at the ceiling, but he could barely see it, it was so high up. "Wow, that's-a gotta be like-a thirty feet! How are we-a gonna get up-a there?" Luigi looked at Mario with a cruel smile on his face. "Oh no, you're-a not gonna make me go up-a there!"  
  
...  
  
...  
  
...  
  
"I can't believe you're-a actually gonna make me go up-a there."  
  
"Oh, come-a on, Mario, you-a know that we've-a gotta get outta here." Luigi insisted while he gave Mario a boost onto the wall. Since some of the bricks were sticking out on one wall, Mario would climb up them first to make sure that it was safe. Mario grabbed the first brick, pulling it slightly to make sure it wouldn't fall out on him. When it didn't, Mario pulled himself up and to the next brick, relieving Luigi's head of his weight. Mario slowly made his way up the wall, stopping every few minutes to regain his footing. "Come-a on, Mario, you haven't even gone-a up two-a feet!" Sure enough, when Mario looked down, Luigi was right there. _'Two feet?' he thought, 'I've surely gone up at least three!'_ Let's-a go, Mario, or I'll-a tell Nintendo all about how-a every one of your-a adventures was a total lie!  
  
Facing complete video game humiliation, Mario renewed his resolve and once more began his ascent. He wouldn't stop again until he had reached the top now. _'I-a have-a to get up-a there! I know I can-a do it!'_ Mario grunted as he pulled himself onto a sort of ledge formed by the pulled out bricks. He sighed. At least he was almost halfway there. He started to go up again, climbing like he did during the first leg of his climb, when suddenly, the brick he grabbed came out with his hand. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Mama mia, help-a me!" Mario hung by his one hand as he saw the brick fall to the ground below and shatter into a million pieces. He began to slip from the one brick he had his other hand on, trying with all his might to grab it with his other hand, at least temporarily. He reached out at it with his eyes closed, hoping that this wouldn't be his doom, when suddenly, a hand grabbed him.  
  
"Don't-a worry, Mario, I've-a gotcha!" Luigi was above him, hanging down and pulling Mario to him. Mario let go of the brick while Luigi pulled him up, shivering in fear, to the top of the wall. "Luigi, how-a did you-a get up-a here?"  
  
"There was-a an elevator." Luigi stated proudly as Mario got up. "I-a took it after you-a had already gotten half-a-way. Come on, let's-a go get Bill Gates!"  
  
But while they aimed to get to Gates' office, the door they took, the only door at the tower's top, led them somewhere that Mario never thought he'd see again. Donkey Kong was holding Peach hostage above a construction site!  
  
"Mama mia," Mario said, "I-a remember this place! This-a was the place I-a faced him twenty years ago!"

* * *

Roo: Now I'll say it. Ooh! Cliffhangery!  
  
Antiroo: You don't sound very enthusiastic, Roo. What's wrong?  
  
Roo: I guess I'm just tired of doing this every chapter. Hey, TTE, is it all right if I take a little vacation?  
  
Go ahead, Roo. In fact, you all can have a vacation if you want. At least for two chapters.  
  
Platypous: Well, I'm off to pack my pudding! Don't forget to review even if we're not here! See you later!


End file.
